A week after the defeat in the quarter-final of “his” World Cup against the Springboks, the disappointment is still present. And seeing South Africa play the semi-final on Saturday against England is not going to help things. Even if this is not the main reason for the defeat of the French XV in the quarter-final, the refereeing of Ben O’Keefe, who will still be on the whistle on Saturday, has not been digested.
And the report produced by the International Federation, World Rugby, will not calm things down. The body, which reviewed the match, was able to detect five gross errors by the New Zealand referee, reports the newspaper Olympic Midday. Five errors, yes, including three to the disadvantage of France. Here are these five errors in detail, in chronological order of the meeting.
Two unreported French faults
- 9th minute of play: On his wing, Damian Penaud finds himself facing the giant Eben Etzebeth. The new UBB player makes an uncontrolled tackle on the second line, he should have been penalized.
- 17th minute of play: Jonathan Danty is on the ground, and complains about his cheekbone. The La Rochelle center was the victim of a dangerous header by Springbok third row Pieter-Steph Du Toit. This should have earned him a yellow card.
- 22nd minute of play: The action must still be going through Thomas Ramos’ head, on this corner conversion, countered by his ex-teammate in Toulouse Cheslin Kolbe. World Rugby reportedly believes the Boks winger left too soon.
- 68th minute of play: Kwagga Smith’s illegal scratch on Cameron Woki, when there was only a point difference, was seen by everyone, except the New Zealand referee, who even awarded a penalty to South Africa, which allowed Pollard to add three points.
- 78th minute of play: While the Blues are pushing to try to reverse the score, Cameron Woki, the French second row, is in an offside position, and should have been penalized.
We only have our eyes left to cry, and to observe, too, the semi-finals of the World Cup which will be played without the France team.